Kelly Itsell
The goal of the GGC was always to bring the community together, and help people grow as lifters.
Talking to Kelly, I think we can rest easy in that it is doing just that. She has been able to with the help of the GGC, even as a life long athlete, be the strongest she has ever been while simultaneously working with clients and helping THEM be the strongest they have ever been. And not just physically strong, but mentally strong. Kelly has been able to focus on performance goals through her pursuits of Powerlifting, leveraging the community and the resources available, to be the best Kelly at age 43. She has her eyes on the prize of building up herself and those around her. She should be damn proud of that too.
Lets Meet Kelly Itsell
Kelly, tell us a little about yourself.
I was born in NY and moved to Michigan when I was 9. Went to college and then got certified as a personal trainer and then later as a health coach. I run Fitness You Can Live With personal training/health coaching from my home.
I have always been into fitness and sports, started off as a distance runner but always had a big interest in building muscle, got into weight training in high school then more into it after college when I was done with my cross-country career. Been lifting seriously for about 12 years now.
Tell me about when you joined the home gym community.
I created a small home gym that started with a barbell and some sand filled weights I bought from a garage sale, then got some iron dumbbells and a cheap bench. Worked in a few gyms for a few years and eventually started my business from my home 10 years ago and started getting serious about building a home gym, got more into barbell training, bodybuilding and powerlifting type training.
I love practicing all the powerlifting lifts but also find it really fun to do kettlebell training, body weight training and Olympic lifting. They all provide an amazing challenge both mentally and physically. Finding weight training for me has been a game changer for mental health and focusing on performance goals has helped me heal a rocky relationship with my body.
These days I train 100% at home and love having friends over to lift with but I mostly lift alone and find that it is my true escape.
My home gym is my favorite place to be and my biggest hobby is researching and buying gym equipment. I take pride in my space and I am always looking for new gym toys. On the list currently is some new monolifts, a lat pulldown and low row machine and excited about some new things that REP Fitness is coming out with. There are so many amazing companies now constantly putting out great things, the market has blown up so much it’s an exciting time.
Tell me about your experience with the Garage Gym Competition.
I found the GGC through Instagram around March 2020 when I was looking at home gym profiles and I thought Oh wow this will give some purpose to my training. I was not seeing clients in person because of the pandemic and while I was still training, I was definitely in a funk and I always wanted to do a powerlifting meet. I figured this would be fun to specifically train for the Big 3 lifts. I put together my own program based on some things I found online and some powerlifters I follow. I had a blast training and doing the lifts, I lifted heavier than ever before and gained so much confidence in myself. I talked about it with clients as soon as everyone got back and 3 clients ended up doing it with me in 2021. None of them with any previous powerlifting experience. In 2021 I followed the free program put out by the GGC and that was perfect. Peaked at just the right time and added weight to every lift from the previous year, plus had the added benefit of watching those clients crush it and start to see strength they did not know they had.
We all donated money based on how many lbs we lifted to our local Special Olympics.
The idea of the open raffle and the possibility of winning one of the awesome prizes is a really fun incentive too. Dreaming of making space for a new squat rack or barbell is always fun!
This year I have at least 3 clients plus my husband and myself competing and now that it will be 2 competitions this year that is even more exciting. I exceeded my goals last year for how much weight I wanted to lift so this year I’m going to use JuggernautAI and get that professional programming and see what I can do. I am 43 years old and have never been stronger in my life, I am really proud of that. I am in a good place mentally and physically and hopefully setting my body up for success as I get older
The GGC is SO supportive, men, women, kids, advanced age competitors…everyone is welcome. I cannot think of anything like it and I wish I had discovered it in year one but so happy I found it when I did.
It is ran so well and each year the process has been so smooth, all questions are answered, the prizes are next level each year. You can tell a lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes to make this happen.
What keeps you motivated, day to day?
What keeps me motivated to train is my performance goals and also knowing I have a basement full of gym toys that I love using and worked hard to get them. When eyeing down a big lift my mind kind of goes blank and I just try to go through my set up and breathe. Sometimes I think wow this is great I have the opportunity to do this…many people don’t.
Favorite PR song?
Metallica has been my band for 30 years and is still my go to for heavy lifting.
Can’t beat the Ride the Lightning and Kill em all albums. If that doesn’t get you amped up Im not sure you are listening well enough.
Thank you Kelly!
You can check out Kelly, her lifting, and her self run fitness business on her Instagram @FITNESSYOUCANLIVEWITH
